THAT'S AMORE will bring out the Italian food lover in you. Dishes both traditional (chicken parmigiana, $14.99; linguine and clam sauce, $12.99) and trendy (tilapia with zucchini, almonds and mint in a Chardonnay wine sauce, $16.99) are on the menu at the seven-month-old Marlboro ristorante. Kid-pleasing meals include cheese ravioli ($5.95) and baked ziti ($6.95) served with a salad and a beverage.

DECOR: The sizable, free-standing structure seats about 150 in two nicely appointed dining rooms. Light streams through a wall of windows fronting the building. A Mediterranean theme is reflected on walls painted with Italian scenes and accented in stucco and terra-cotta. A fireplace adds a warm glow. When filled to capacity on weekends, the place can be noisy, so arrive early, if you want to communicate with your table mates.

STAFF: Efficient.

HOUSE SPECIALTIES: We were off to a tasty start with doughy, oven-baked rolls. Complimentary bruschetta were average. Well-executed antipasti: crisp, golden fried calamari ($8.99) complimented by either a zesty or sweet chunky marinara; a seafood lover's platter of shrimp, mussels, calamari and clams oreganata, all coated in seasoned bread crumbs, baked and brightened by a lemony garlic sauce (oreganata di mare, $9.99); and a rib-sticking escarole and bean soup ($4.99). Hearty servings of pasta ladled into oversized plates also impressed: cut-above rigatoni in a creamy vodka sauce bolstered with prosciutto and shallots ($11.99); and a salt of the earth linguine puttanesca ($10.99) with black olives, capers, anchovies, tomatoes and basil. (Pastas came with decent dinner salads.)

BUT DON'T MISS: Big flavored, big portioned entrees. Two family-size dinners supplied lunch the following day: a special chicken Amore ($24.99), a coop's worth of chicken breasts generously stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella and spinach, all enrobed in a creamy mushroom sauce over linguine; and veal saltimbocca ($18.99), a bevy of tender medallions crowned in prosciutto, mozzarella and spinach smothered in a winy mushroom sauce over angel hair pasta. On the lighter side was a perfectly grilled, fist-size fillet of salmon ($17.99) sided by sauteed fresh vegetables. Entrees came with salads.

ROOM FOR DESSERT? There's always room for a bomba (vanilla and chocolate gelato wrapped around a cherry and sliced almonds, dusted in cinnamon and encased in chocolate, $4.99), grandmother cake (lemony pastry cream topped with pine nuts and almonds on a rich, buttery crust, $4.99) and chocolate ganache cheesecake ($4.99), all outsourced and delicious.